The Penguin’s Sofia Falcone Is the Best TV Villain of 2024 (Golden Issue Awards)

It’s time to crown the winner for Best TV Villain at the 2024 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Awards

December 24, 2024, 2:00pm

It’s been a good year to be bad, and an even better one to watch those bad people on our screens. 2024 has been a landmark year for television as we have gotten to see some of the most complex villains to offer in years. Whether they be a maniacal force that made every episode of a particular series fall into chaos, or a more methodical force that grew over the course of a respective series, there were some incredible villains to see play out on screen over the year. A wide variety on offer, and each one more intriguing than the last.

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Thanks to how many standout TV series we got to see over the year, there were tons of complex, villainous characters that we had to choose from when it came to the best of the best TV villains. The options ranged from a standout animated debut, a new addition to the wider Marvel multiverse, a dark “hero” who is only getting more selfish, a warrior clad in darkness, and an antagonist who was just going up against someone more vile. But only one could be the best TV villain for the year.

And the winner for the 2024 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best TV Villain is…

Sofia Gigante (née Falcone) as performed by Cristin Milioti in The Penguin!

It’s admittedly odd to call Sofia Gigante a “villain” when it comes to her role in The Penguin. Without a doubt, it’s a series following Oz Cobblepot as he becomes the traditional “Penguin” DC Comics villain that Batman fans can’t wait to see get punched in the face. By the end of its run, it’s very clear that we had been watching the true villain all this time. That makes Sofia’s role in it all even more complex as she had to serve as the antagonist to a villain in the making while also toeing the line of being the outright villain herself.

Boosted by a performance from Cristin Milioti, Sofia was such a unique character when it comes to not only everyone else in The Penguin but on TV overall. Originally billed as a villain who was more cold blooded than Oz (so that we as an audience would grow to like Oz more in comparison), the series evolved further to showcase that she was more of an antagonist who was just operating against Oz’s plans. It wasn’t so cut and dry as a traditional hero versus villain, and in fact she was justified in much of her actions.

Sofia was built as a character who fans would hate, but then grew to love even more. As her flaws began to reveal her more human side, Oz’s darkness took over even more and their roles flipped completely by the end of it all. It’s such a delicate balance between the two held up by some fantastic performances that Sofia was just absolutely magnetic every time she was on screen. There really was no one more fun to watch in 2024.

The nominees for the 2024 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best TV Villain are…